# Turkey and Cowboys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885 "2000-11-19T22:44:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/1 "2000-11-19T22:44:28Z")
I’m a bit embarrassed to even be asking this question, as I am sure every other football fan already knows, but why does the NFL schedule Dallas (and Detroit) every Thanksgiving (well, since '66 anyway)? I’ve looked around a bit for an explanation, but was unable to find a satisfactory answer. Cheers, ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/2 "2000-11-19T23:22:01Z")
The Lions and Cowboys play on Thanksgiving because they’ve asked to and the NFL lets them. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving for quite a while. The Cowboys didn’t start up the practice until later. I think it’s just a tradition and nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/3 "2000-11-19T23:55:29Z")
The Detroit Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving Day for a loooong time. Until the mid-1960s, they were the only team that played on Thanksgiving. But Pete Rozelle, then commissioner of the NFL, was smart enough and prescient enough to see how television coverage could make the NFL huge, maybe bigger than baseball Conversely, baseball’s commissioners… and MANY NFL owners… thought TV was a THREAT to the health of their teams. Rozelle understood that Thanksgiving Day, when millions of Americans are home watching TV, was a GREAT day to showcase NFL football. So, he tried to get some of the NFL’s premiere teams to agree to do an annual Thanksgiving game, like the Lions. All the marquee teams refused.MOST NFL owners thought primarily in terms of game-day attendance, and most thought attendance would be terrible on Thanksgiving, a day hen most people are home with their families. But Tex Schramm, the Cowboys’ GM, jumped at the chance. HE was as visionary as Rozelle, and understood that local attendance was, ultimately, less valuable than nationwide media exposure for his team. Even in the 1960s, when the Cowboys were a weak expansion team, Tex Schramm had a vision of marketing the Cowboys as “America’s Team.” To him, the chance to have the Dallas Cowboys on television in front of the entire country every Thanksgiving was a godsend! He grabbed the chance. And it worked out as splendidly for the Cowboys as Schramm had hoped. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/4 "2000-11-20T16:58:28Z")
Yes, the Lions have played on Thanksgiving for a long time… but it USED to be the Lions AND the Packers on Thanksgiving. ::sulks:: ---
**Author:** ![mountain\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@mountain\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mountain_man)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/5 "2000-11-20T22:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*Until the mid-1960s, [the Detroit Lions] were the only team that played on Thanksgiving. \*\* Talk about eliminating the competition. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/6 "2000-11-21T00:13:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mountain man \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > > \*\*Until the mid-1960s, [the Detroit Lions] were the only team that played on Thanksgiving. \*\* > > Talk about eliminating the competition. \*\* Heh. They _still_ couldn’t stay above .500 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-and-cowboys/41885/7 "2000-11-22T02:36:01Z")
Thanx, folks.